


little hands wrapped around my finger

by peachjuho



Series: you know i'll never lose affection [1]
Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Kid Kang Chanhee | Chani, M/M, Parent Kim Youngbin, if you really wanna squint there's binwoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 06:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12906417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachjuho/pseuds/peachjuho
Summary: youngbin can tell you all about it from first-hand experience. how difficult raising a kid as a single parent is, that is.





	little hands wrapped around my finger

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in about an hour at 4am so forgive me if there's parts that don't make sense or something

The thing is - kids are hard to deal with. Especially young ones, like the one staring in Youngbin's eyes right now with firm feet planted to the floor. There's a paintbrush clutched in a tiny fist and splatters of colour on chubby cheeks. Youngbin tries his best to withhold a loud exhale. (It’s too difficult though, so he heaves a great sigh.)

Kids are hard. It's just a fact that you can't escape. If anyone tells you that kids are easy, it’s a big, big lie. That, or they’re only dealing with kids for less than twenty minutes. Youngbin can tell you all about it from first-hand experience.

He has one child, and his name is Chanhee.

It might not sound like a lot, but he’s a truly one difficult kid to manage. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s nearing his Terrifying Terrible Twos. (Youngbin’s just hoping he doesn’t get even worse.)

Of course, Chanhee still has his good days. Those are the days he’s happy to sit still and play with his toys, the days that Youngbin can get through without any major tantrums and survive without a headache. It’s just that, they’re quite rare and bad days seem to happen a lot more often. On those days, Youngbin sucks in a breath and holds back his tears to keep pushing forward for his little one.

All the people he’s talked to have said that boys are hard to manage when they're young, but it gets easier when they're older. (And naturally, that it’s the opposite for girls.) When Chanhee lets out another loud scream, Youngbin hopes so, so badly that it's true.

"Chanhee," Youngbin pleads, waving the small pair of pants in front of his pants-less son. "Can you please co-operate with Daddy?”

The two-year old shuts his mouth for a moment, before he lets out another shriek for good measure. Youngbin winces, and watches as the toddler drops the paintbrush and runs away from him. Chanhee’s legs are still quite short, and he nearly trips over one of the books he’s left out. Youngbin sighs and puts his head in his hands. He furtively glances around the living room, and laments the time he’ll have to take time to clean up the house too. (Sometimes having a kid seems like it’s more trouble than it’s worth.)

It's not that he doesn't love Chanhee, or that he wishes he didn't have him. That’s far from the truth, honestly. (Okay, maybe sometimes he’s had a tiny thought, but it's gone in a second and he's horrified at himself for even thinking about it.) It’s more like, it’s hard to raise a child on your own. To be a single parent. Youngbin wishes he has the luxury some of his friends have, of having a partner they can tag-team with for their babies. He doesn’t have anyone he can pass off Chanhee to, and he still feels bad when he asks someone to babysit for him.

Youngbin trails after Chanhee to find a tiny body sprawled across his bed. He crouches beside him, whispering, "Don't you want to see Uncle Rowoon? You have to put your pants on if you do."

Chanhee lifts his head to face his father with wide eyes, only to drop it heavily back onto the bed. There's muffled shouts of, "No, no, no!", and Youngbin knows he’s running of time to play nice anymore.

"Okay, that's it." He straightens up and grabs Chanhee by the armpits and deftly manoeuvres him into his lap. In the next moment, Chanhee's pants have been put on successfully and he's so shocked he’s no longer crying. Youngbin silently thanks whoever's watching over him. “You weren’t listening to Daddy, so go and stand in the naughty corner.”

Chanhee pouts, but Youngbin’s already starting to become immune to his cuteness. “Not this time, bub.” He lifts the small child by the arms and drops him gently in the corner, facing the wall. He backs away, but that’s when Chanhee turns around and looks at him.

Youngbin can hear it before it starts.

Chanhee starts to wail obnoxiously loudly. Youngbin is expressionless when he looks at him. “Did I say you can face Daddy?” He frowns, and forcibly turns Chanhee around again. “Look at the wall.”

There’s some more crying before Chanhee finally falls silent save for a few sniffles.

In his head, Youngbin counts to ten.

_One. Two. Four. Seven. Ten._

(He skips because he gets impatient.)

He crouches beside the toddler and watches his face. “Do you know why you’re in the naughty corner?” Youngbin asks softly. “Daddy asked you lots of times to wash your hands and face, and then change your clothes, but you didn’t listen.” Chanhee blinks at him with shiny eyes, so he takes it as a sign to continue. “Daddy still loves you very much, okay? Give Daddy a big hug.”

His son clambers into his lap, and throws his arms around his neck. “Love you,” is mumbled into his neck and he rolls his shoulders to slowly ease out the stress.

They spend a moment like that, cuddled up in each other, before the doorbell rings.

Immediately, Chanhee wriggles his way out of Youngbin's grasp, and runs to the door with squeals of delight.

Youngbin gives himself a few seconds to let his back hit the side of his bed. He leans on it, appreciating it for the comfort and sense of steadiness it brings, before he makes the trek to the door. Chanhee's giggles echo through the hallway, clear and high, and Youngbin’s best guess is that his guest is making funny faces through the window.

At the door, he fumbles for a few moments before finally fishing out the right keys from his pocket. The door unlocks with a click and Chanhee immediately reaches his hands upwards with a shout of, "Uncle 'Woon!"

The hero of the day is Rowoon, who comes bearing what must be a new toy for Chanhee and food carefully packaged in neat boxes - their food for the week. (Youngbin wishes he had time to cook for Chanhee, but maybe it’s probably a good thing too, that he doesn’t.) Thankfully, Rowoon is not put off by fingers covered in dried paint, and sets down his bag to easily scoop up the toddler into his arms. Pressing a soft kiss to Chanhee's forehead, he beams. "Hello, you! You’re wearing pants! Well, how are you today?"

As Chanhee babbles on excitedly, Rowoon adjusts him so that he's resting on his hip. He makes it look so easy and natural that Youngbin's more than a little jealous. After he seems stable, Rowoon turns to Youngbin, whose mouth immediately spill forth words of thanks.

"Don't be stupid, Bin. You know this isn't a big deal."

"I'll pay yo-"

The taller male huffs. "I don't want your money." He leans down into Chanhee, holding him closer. "Can you believe your dad? He wants to pay me for looking after you." To finish, he snorts, like it's the most incredulous idea he's ever heard. Chanhee makes noises of agreement. Glancing at the clock, he asked, "Anyway, isn't it time for you to go?"

Youngbin looks at his wrist and nearly curses. If he stays for a moment longer, he’s not sure he can run fast enough to make it on time for his train. “Yeah, it is.” He takes a brief look around his apartment, haphazardly pulling thoughts from his brain. "Okay, yes, and that’s fine already, I don’t need to worry about that… And you know all the regular stuff-"

"Yes, I do." Rowoon rolls his eyes. They've been through the same routine more than enough times for him to know what 'the regular stuff' is. "And if there's an emergency, the contact details are on the fridge, I know." His face softens and his voice drops to a lower tone. "Listen to me, Binnie. Don't worry, okay?"

"You know me," Youngbin chuckles dryly. He shakes his head. "I'm always worrying. But I know I can trust you."

"That's right!" Rowoon grins, then he quickly shoos Youngbin out the door. As the elder is putting on his shoes, he chortles, "Now off you go, Chanhee and I have lots of plans for today!" At the sound of his name, Chanhee lets out a giggle.

Youngbin straightens up and his eyes turn impossibly soft when he looks at his son. He runs a hand over the top of his head, and leans in to press quick kiss to his cheek. "You’ll be good for Uncle 'Woon, right?”

“Ya!” Chanhee cheers.

“Now, say bye to Daddy!” Rowoon prompts, bouncing the toddler on his hip.

It’s not like he needed to, when Chanhee’s already using his whole arm in an enthusiastic wave. “Bye-bye!”

Youngbin grins, then the door closes on the two of them and they disappear from view.

His heart drops. It's like there's a gaping hole in his chest that desperately needs to be filled.

He already misses his kid, but he's got a train to catch.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are always much loved and appreciated ♡
> 
> talk to me about kid!chani and dad!bin, leave me a prompt, be my friend, tell me to finish that binseong fic i said i'd finish a while ago-  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/peachjuho) / [tumblr](peachjuho.tumblr.com/) / [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/peachjuhos)


End file.
